


Tick Tick Boom

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Moving Targets [10]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Bestest Cousins, Cryptic Warnings, F/M, Humor, JLA - Freeform, Lois stop calling at 5 AM, Oliver doesn't love the idea of messing with people's minds, Protective Chloe Sullivan, Team Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:54:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24227665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: The team gets word of where to find Lex, but finding him and even capturing him is only the beginning. The bigger question they must ask themselves is: what should they do with him once they have him?
Relationships: Lois Lane & Chloe Sullivan, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: Moving Targets [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748179
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Queen Towers, Metropolis -- January 21, 2011**

Chloe closed and locked the door of the office two doors down from Oliver's and took a deep breath, taking a seat by the desk and looking down at her laptop. Everything was set up, there had been no bugs or anything suspicious, they had checked every corner of the office and then set up two cameras, which Chloe was watching now. She picked up her wireless headphones and slid them in her ears, adjusting her position on the chair and watching as Oliver paced the floor of his office. It was almost four, Tess should arrive in a few minutes, her stomach tightened, she had Bart on stand by, he would be in there within seconds if she sent him the signal, but that wasn't much comfort. She just wanted this to be over with.

Oliver drew in a slow breath and then exhaled before turning to look up at the bookcase where the tiny camera was planted. He winked at it and smiled before moving to sit down at his desk. He was almost surprised when there was a knock. Tess usually just walked in like she owned the place--which she half did. "Come in," he called.

Tess didn't really wait for his response as she pushed the door open, there was a flash of relief when she saw him sitting behind the desk, but it was quickly replaced with a neutral expression. She closed the door behind her and turned to face him, "Oliver." She said in the form of a greeting.

"Mercy," he returned, studying her intently, and motioning to the seat in front of his desk. "What's up?"

"I won't be long," she _couldn't_ be long, so she didn't take the seat, "he's coming for you."

He paused at that. "When?"

"I don't know." She held his gaze, "soon."

"What else do you know?" he asked quietly, studying her.

"He's planning something big," her jaw tensed slightly, but her expression remained unchanged otherwise.

Oliver rose to his feet. "What's he doing to you, Mercy?" His voice was almost inaudible.

"That is the least of your worries, Oliver," she said firmly, staring up at him.

"Don't be so sure." He stared back at her intently.

"He has been hiding far too long, Lex Luthor likes attention and he is ready to have some," she said firmly, "pay attention to him before he gets too close."

He cocked his head. "This would all be a lot more helpful if it weren't so vague, you realize?"

"I don't know enough to give you concrete information, Oliver." She snapped, "take what you can get."

He raised an eyebrow at her, but his expression didn't change otherwise. "Pay attention to him before he gets too close. Got it."

Her eyes narrowed slightly and she took a step closer, "let’s hope you can remember that."

Oliver watched her. "I won't forget."

Tess held his gaze for a moment longer then turned around and started toward the door.

"Mercy."

She reached for the door knob and stopped, glancing at him over her shoulder, "don't contact me," she said firmly before opening the door and walking out of the room.

He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the tightness he suddenly felt in his chest. She was in trouble. And if his instincts were right, a lot of it.

* * *

Chloe waited a few moments longer, packed up her laptop in her bag and walked out of the room she'd been in, making a beeline to Oliver's office. She opened the door and looked at him, her eyes a little wide. She had heard everything, she had recorded the conversation in case they needed to remember anything Tess had said, but now she was more worried than before.

Oliver was sitting on the edge of his desk, his expression worried. "I think you should call Bart."

She frowned, closing the door, "why?"

"I think we need to have him follow her." His voice was quiet.

Ever as he answered her question, Chloe pulled her phone from her pocket and sent Bart a message, "what did I miss?" She asked Oliver.

"She's in trouble, Chloe." He gazed at her.

A strong wind hit them and Bart showed up in the room, looking between the two of them with wide eyes.

Chloe nodded at him, "we're both okay," she assured him, then turned back to Oliver, "what kind of trouble?"

He shook his head a little. "I don't know. That's what I want to find out." He turned his head to look at Bart. "You mind following Tess for awhile?"

"No," Bart told Oliver, "did she just leave?"

"About three minutes ago," he confirmed with a nod.

"I'm on it." He said, nodding before disappearing again.

Chloe let out a breath and looked at Oliver, "you think Lex is doing something?"

"I'd bet on it," he said without hesitation, gazing back at her.

She straightened her back and nodded a little, holding his gaze. As much as she didn't trust Tess, she trusted Oliver and if he thought something was going on, then he was probably right, because he knew the other woman well and he seemed genuinely worried. Chloe just hoped that Tess wasn't the bait Lex was hoping Oliver would go after.

He raked a hand through his hair, sighing softly. "So I guess we just sit around and wait again," he mumbled, not very happy about the prospect.

"I'm sure Bart will have something for us soon," Chloe assured him, watching him closely.

"Yeah, I'm sure he will," he agreed quietly.

"In the meanwhile we need to worry about making sure _you_ are safe," she told him.

"I'm pretty sure I'm safe right now," he assured her.

At that, Chloe frowned, "did you not hear what Tess said? He's coming for you, Oliver." She said sternly, "and I understand you are worried about her, but _I'm_ worried about _you_."

"Chloe, I meant...here." He motioned around with one hand.

She stopped and looked at him, "what happens when we leave?"

He was quiet for a moment. "We be careful." He paused and looked down. "And I think we should split up for the day."

Chloe stilled completely and her face fell for a second, then she blinked, staring at him in disbelief, "excuse me?"

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "It'll be safer that way."

"Safer for _me_ , you mean," she said firmly, eyes narrowing.

He didn't answer, simply gazed back at her.

"No." She told him simply, a determined look on her face, "if you think I'm going to let you walk around on your own just because Lex is after you, you are wrong. What would you do if he was after me, Oliver? You would be grabbing me, throwing me on the first plane and taking me to Siberia until Lex was no longer a threat. If you think I'm going to keep my distance from you so you can be in danger alone you can think again. That's not how this works."

"Well, that's not _exactly_ what I would do. I'd hunt him down and kill him...again." He gazed at her, then sighed softly.

Chloe raised her eyebrows at him, her expression remained serious, "I'm not leaving your side."

He held her gaze. "All right," he said quietly. "We stick together."

She held his gaze for a moment longer then nodded, "Do you want to wait for Bart here or go back to the Watchtower?"

"Let's go to Watchtower," he answered, stepping closer to her.

Staring up at him still, she nodded, adjusting the laptop bag over her shoulder.

Realizing she was still staring at him intently, he reached out and touched her cheek. "Hey."

"You're staying there with me," she said firmly, not leaning into his touch, she needed him to listen to her and she wasn't going to let him distract her or let him know just how scared she was. And even if she knew it would be uncomfortable for both of them to spend nights on the Watchtower couch, they had done it before and despite their agreement to sleep in separate bedrooms for now and take their relationship slow as far as commitment went, this was an emergency.

"I wasn't going to argue otherwise," he promised, searching her eyes.

Chloe relaxed just a fraction and nodded, "let's go," she told him, turning to walk toward the door.

He sighed softly, but picked up his briefcase and followed her out the door, worry furrowing his brow.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and texted quickly as they walked over to the elevator, "I told Bart to check in at the Watchtower."

"Good idea," he murmured, following her into the elevator as well. He paused after he pushed the button for the lobby floor. "Do you have food at Watchtower still? Or do we need to get something?"

"We should get something, deliveries are probably not a good idea right now," she told him, blowing out a breath as she leaned against the wall, she hadn't slept more than a couple of hours the previous night, after Oliver managed to tire her out enough to get her to nap, and then she woke up and started to work, as she had planned.

"All right. We can stop at the store on the way," he suggested, wanting to get her mind off everything.

"Okay," she agreed absently, pushing herself from the wall and walking into the elevator as the doors slid open in front of them, already trying to think of ways to make Watchtower safer for him.

"Chloe. Stop," he murmured, reaching out and catching her arm in one hand.

She blinked and frowned, turning to look up at him once they were inside the elevator, "what?"

"Panicking," he said quietly. "Stop panicking."

"I'm not panicking," she told him, frowning more, "but I'm worried and I'm trying to think of ways to keep you safe, because I know you and I know you won't be as careful as you should be."

Oliver paused at that. "Chloe, I'm a lot more careful than you're giving me credit for," he said, giving her a look.

"Not careful enough," she told him, holding his gaze. And if she was honest with herself, she knew he wasn't the problem, her inability to protect him was. All she could do was stand behind her computers and hope the others would be there in time, when she needed them to be, the training with Oliver had showed her just how helpless, how _useless_ she was, and although she had been okay with it the previous day, that at least she had been working to change that, today that wasn't good enough because Oliver was in danger _now_ and there was not a damn thing she could do about it.

"Short of locking myself into an iron cage of some kind with fallout gear, I don't know how much more careful I could really be, Chloe." He shook his head a little.

Chloe shook her head and took a deep breath, trying her best not to take out her frustrations on him, "I just want to make sure we have as many possible scenarios covered as we can," she told him, pursing her lips together.

"I know. That's why you're Watchtower," he said quietly, gazing at her intently.

She sighed and nodded, looking away. Research, plans, schemes. That was all she could do and she better at least get them right.

"I promise I'm going to be as careful as possible, Chloe," he said, reaching down and taking her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

She squeezed his hand in return and nodded slightly. "I know."


	2. Chapter 2

**Watchtower -- January 21, 2011**

Oliver finished putting the last of the groceries they'd bought into the fridge and exhaled slowly. His entire body was tense, for more reasons than one.

He hadn't been to Watchtower in a long time. At least not to _stay_ for an undetermined amount of time.

Or even for a night.

Even though he and Chloe had talked, had worked through some of their issues over the past few weeks, being there, where things had both started _and_ ended, made his chest tight.

She was as tense as he felt, but she wasn't even thinking about _them_ or their sleeping arrangements, her only concern was _him_ and keeping him safe, keeping him alive.

Once they were done with the groceries she took a deep breath and looked around at the computers, which she had booted up as soon as they walked inside, "I'll go see what I can do about increasing security in here."

"Chloe, I think we're okay on security," he pointed out, remembering how Watchtower had gone on lock down when Tess had broken in.

"Tess broke in here once, I want to make sure that can't happen again," she said, brushing off his comment as she turned to face the main computer tower.

He raked a hand through his hair, sighing softly as she brushed him off. He watched her with worried eyes, trying his best to ignore the all-too-familiar frustration he felt when she got like this.

She started typing, her eyes narrowing as she set up the system, she was silent for a long moment, "I'm activating face recognition in the bottom floor, the elevator should go on lockdown if anyone tries to break in and the alarms should go off, which should give us enough time to either leave or prepare ourselves."

"All right," he said, folding his arms across his chest and watching the computer screen as she worked.

Chloe took a deep breath and continued to work, after another long moment, she stopped and turned to face him, "what are we going to do when we do find him?"

Oliver shook his head a little. "I don't know," he admitted.

She took a deep breath and stared at him for a moment, they both knew what they _should_ do, but she'd seen how that haunted Oliver the first time around, she didn't want to suggest another try, "what about that prison in Gotham?"

At the mention of Gotham, his expression soured. "Yeah, I'm sure Batman could arrange it."

It took a lot of effort on her part not to roll her eyes, but she managed, "we would need to charge him with a lot, but I heard it's nearly impossible to escape that place, and maybe J'onn can alter his memory..."

He grimaced at that. "I don't know, Chloe. Messing with people's minds..." He shook his head a little.

"Lex's mind," she pointed out, eyes narrowing, "he had no problem messing with any of the people he brainwashed."

He met her eyes and held her gaze. "I understand what you're saying. I do." He shook his head again and looked away.

"We don't have a lot of options," she let out a breath and leaned back against the desk, watching him, "only two I can think of."

"Brainwashing and murder." He exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his face.

Chloe sighed softly and crossed her arms over her chest, "I'll call a meeting for tonight."

"All right," he said quietly.

She was about to turn around and face the screen again so she could message everyone when the familiar, strong wind that she now associated with Bart instead of Clark hit her and she turned to see the speedster standing there, staring at both of them with eyes just as wide as before.

"Bart? What is it?" Oliver asked, worried, as he stepped toward the younger man.

"I followed her back to the mansion," he told Oliver, glancing at Chloe.

"And?" Chloe asked.

"Guess who was there, waiting to welcome her home," he shuddered.

He grew still. "Lex," he said tensely.

Bart nodded, his face paler than usual, "I say we go in there and take him down before he can even blink."

Chloe's stomach was in knots, she couldn't believe he was so close... she looked at Oliver, worried.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "And what do we do with him once we take him down?" he asked Bart quietly.

Bart crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't know man, you're the boss, but we need to take him out before he hurts anyone else, right?"

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face and glanced at Chloe. "Set up the meeting?" he suggested.

Chloe held his gaze and nodded a little, sending out the messages as she planned.

Bart frowned between the two of them and took a step forward, watching the screen.

He leaned against the wall warily, his expression perfectly neutral as he gazed at Bart. "I'm not the boss," he said quietly.

"Then who is?" Bart asked in confusion.

"There isn't one, Bart. We're a team." He shook his head a little.

Bart shook his head and shrugged, "you recruited all of us, man, it's your team. You're the boss and we're all cool with that, right, Chloe?"

Chloe glanced at Bart and nodded slightly, "right," she agreed, "but this is a big decision and Ollie shouldn't have to make it alone."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm gonna...get something to drink," he said.

Frowning, Chloe turned around and watched as Oliver walked toward the kitchen area, sighing softly she rubbed a hand over her face, "it will be a while before everyone can connect," she said to no one in particular.

Bart frowned too, then looked at Chloe, "I'm gonna run to Star City, make sure everyone there is awake and online."

Oliver glanced up in time to see Bart vanish from the room and he sighed softly, pouring himself a glass of lemonade and taking a long drink. It wasn't even close to what he _wanted_ to be drinking right then, but alcohol wouldn't help him keep his focus and he needed his head to be in the game.

Chloe hesitated for a moment then walked over to where Oliver was standing and placed a hand on his back, looking up at him.

He glanced at her and offered her a small, faint smile. "Want some lemonade?"

She shook her head and rubbed her hand over his back slowly, "I'm okay, thank you."  
Nodding a little, he finished off his lemonade and set the glass in the small sink, exhaling slowly and closing his eyes.

Chloe watched him for a long moment then shook her head, "Bart needs someone to look up to, Oliver, and you are that person to him, but you're not deciding anything alone and you're not dealing with this alone."

"Why?" he asked quietly, shaking his head and turning to look at her.

"Why what?" She asked with a frown.

"Why am I the person Bart looks up to?"

"Because you're the one who took him in and believed in him, you're the one who caught him stealing and gave him a job where he could just use his ability to its full potential without having to worry about anything," she told him seriously, watching him, "just like you did with Mia."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, looking away. "I'm also the reason Lex may kill us all."

"No, you're not," Chloe looked up at him, "you're just his main target because you were the only one who was brave enough to try and do what we all have wanted to do before."

"There's a big difference between bravery and vengeance," he said quietly, looking back at her again.

"With the exception of Mia, Lex has done something to hurt every single one of us before, Oliver," she told him, holding his gaze, "we all have personal reasons to get rid of Lex, too. It doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do just because we've been affected by him before."

Oliver gazed at her. "I'm not sure I can do that again," he admitted almost inaudibly.

She took a step closer and placed her hands over his, squeezing them slightly, "no one is asking you to, maybe the others will have different solutions than what we came up with, but whatever we do, we're doing it as a team."

He nodded a little, looking down at their joined hands, and then back up at her once more, shifting closer to her and kissing her temple. "All right."

Chloe closed her eyes for a second then turned her head, pressing her lips to his jaw as she let go of his hands and wrapped her arms around him instead, "we'll be okay," she told him in a whisper, and those weren't really the words she wanted to say to him, but she wasn't ready for anything else yet.

Oliver swallowed hard at the feel of her lips against his jaw, sliding his arms around her in return. "I know," he murmured against her ear.

She closed her eyes and rubbed her hands over his back soothingly, pressing her nose to his cheek and doing her best not to think about what would happen if she lost him. It almost made her want to go after Lex herself.

He tightened his arms around her just a little, turning his face to kiss her cheek and brushing his nose lightly against hers.

Chloe turned her face too and opened her eyes, looking up at him as she brushed her nose against his again.

He met her gaze for a long moment then kissed the corner of her mouth tenderly, watching her.

She held his gaze, her chest tightening at just how... intimate this felt, but she didn't pull back, she lifted a hand to his cheek and leaned closer, pressing her lips to his.   
Oliver kissed her back without hesitation, brushing his nose against hers again and sliding a hand down her back.

Shifting her arms, she wrapped them around his neck and slid a hand up into his hair, deepening the kiss and she pressed up against him as close as she could.

He groaned involuntarily as her body shifted against his and without warning, he picked her up and planted her on the kitchen counter as he returned the kiss, one hand sliding beneath her shirt.

Her legs locked around his back instantly and she shifted to the very edge of the counter, wanting to keep him close as she ran her fingers through his scalp and neck, trying to get him to relax some.

Oliver nuzzled her neck, kissing her there, then trailing his lips down her throat to her collarbone, hooking a finger in the neckline of her shirt and dragging it down farther, exposing more skin and kissing her there, too.

She let her head drop backwards to give him more space and closed her eyes, shivering at the feel of his mouth against her skin.

He tugged her closer to him, sliding a hand up and into her hair, scraping his teeth lightly over her skin. He groaned when he heard the communicators crackling from the other room. "Son of a bitch," he muttered.

Chloe sighed and opened her eyes, swallowing and rubbing her face and looking at him, "we'll resume this later," she told him, her eyes dark as she held his gaze. She knew this meeting was going to be hard on them, but Oliver was already blaming himself for the fact that this was happening at all, she wanted to make sure she could get his mind off of things.

He raked a hand through his hair, and forced himself to take a deep breath. "Promises promises," he grumbled, his eyes just as dark as he stared back at her.

The hint of a smirk appeared on her lips and she raised her eyebrows, reaching for the front of his shirt and pulling him closer again then kissing him hard for a brief moment, "how is that for a promise?"

"Torture, mostly," he responded, reaching out and resting his hands on her hips, then pulling her down off the counter.

She rolled her eyes and looked up at him, frowning when she heard Victor's voice calling 'Watchtower?' from one of the monitors, "c'mon," she told him, running her hand over his chest as she pulled herself away from him and toward the computers.

"Wicked," he muttered, rubbing a hand over his face and following her into the main room once more.

"Cyborg," she greeted Victor, taking a deep breath and looking up at the screen, noticing Bart was there too, "you managed to keep Mia out of this one then?" She asked, in her message to him, she asked him not to bring the teenage girl into this particular meeting, not because she didn't think she could handle it, but because she knew it would make things harder on Oliver.

"She'd downstairs," Bart told Chloe.

Victor nodded a little and glanced at AC and Dinah, who were beside him. "I think we're ready to begin." 

"What's going on?" AC asked curiously. 

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "We need to figure out what to do with Lex Luthor."

"He's in Smallville, at the Luthor Mansion." Chloe informed him, then glanced at Oliver before looking back at the screen, "and according to Tess, he's coming for Oliver, we don't know how and we don't know when."

"Are you sure Tess can be trusted?" Dinah questioned, lifting an eyebrow. 

"No," Oliver admitted. "But we can't just discount what she says either." He glanced at Chloe.

Chloe held his gaze for a second and nodded slightly then looked back at the screen, "we need to make sure Oliver is safe and that should be our number one priority, but that's not the reason why we called this meeting." 

"To decide what to do with Luthor," Victor said, nodding and then glancing at AC, then Bart. "All right. Anyone have any ideas, besides the obvious?"

"Prison isn't an option, he wouldn't stay in there more than 48 hours before he bought his way out," Dinah pointed out, "and we probably couldn't even come with enough evidence to lock him up anyway."

"For regular prisons," Chloe agreed, "but I was thinking about Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane," she paused, not looking at Oliver, "the problem is that we would have to prove how unstable Lex is and for that, we would need J'onn to mess with his mind."

Oliver looked down at the floor, remaining silent as he folded his arms across his chest. 

"The dude's crazy anyway," AC pointed out. "It's not really that much of a stretch."

"Yeah, but this would be like planting evidence," Victor pointed out, "it's not exactly legal."

"A lot of what we do isn't legal," Dinah said with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Most of what we do isn't legal," AC agreed, glancing at her sideways and then at Chloe.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded, "that's not something we can agree on until we speak with J'onn anyway because he will be the one doing most of the work," she pointed out, "but it's one suggestion, if you have others, I'd like to hear them."

The group fell silent.

"We could drop him on a deserted island somewhere," AC suggested, shrugging. 

"That would just be a short term solution," Oliver said quietly. "Lex is smart. He'd find a way back, and he'd be more pissed than ever."

" _If_ we can't agree on anything else, that sounds like a good start," Chloe told AC, "but Oliver is right, we need to do more than that, Lex came back from a deserted island once before," she pointed out.

"We need to cause some permanent damage on that bald bastard," Bart said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Dinah smirked, she had an almost proud look on her face as she glanced over at Bart then nodded her agreement, "permanent, now we're talking. Anything else, he's going to come back from."

"He came back from what we thought was permanent once before," Oliver said, his voice sharper than he'd intended it to be.

"Then we make sure this time," Dinah said.

His eyes narrowed. "No."

Chloe glanced over at Oliver and took a deep breath, "J'onn's shift ends in a couple of hours, I will talk to him then, if anyone has any other suggestions, we will discuss them, for now, is anyone completely against Arkham?"

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face and exhaled slowly, leaning back against the wall once more and falling silent.

She stared at the screen and when no one spoke up, including Oliver, she nodded a little, "I'll let you know what J'onn said once we talk to him, I'll see you guys in a couple of hours."

There was a mix of different 'byes' and 'see you laters' and Victor moved forward toward the computer, "Star City signing off." And the screens went black for a second before returning to Chloe's desktop.

He blew out a breath, closing his eyes for a moment and then opening them once more to look at her, his expression nearly unreadable.

Chloe didn't step closer this time, she just watched him and crossed her arms over her chest, "I know you're not comfortable with this, but it's the only solution we have right now."

"Is it?" His voice was quiet.

"Yes," she said firmly and took a step closer, "we kill him and one of his men uses the Lazarus Serum on him and he's back again and we're back to where we started."

"I'm not saying we do that either. I'm just...suggesting that we keep our minds open to any alternatives that may or may not present themselves." He gazed at her intently.

"I agree with you," she told him, holding his gaze, "which is why I asked everyone to keep thinking about other possible solutions."

"I know," he said softly, stepping toward her.

Chloe dropped her arms to her sides and nodded a little, "I'll try to think of different solutions too," she promised him.

Oliver pressed a kiss to her forehead, a troubled expression on his face. "Okay."

She placed his hands on his arms and pulled back enough to look at him, cocking her head as she studied him for a moment, "what is bothering you so much about this?"

He gazed at her for a long moment, then shook his head a little. "It's complicated." His voice was quiet and he looked away.

Now she was worried, she frowned and squeezed his arms gently, "explain it to me."

"Chloe, I'm not sure it's something you really want to hear," he murmured, looking at her once more.

"I can handle it," she told him in a whisper, holding his gaze and the only thing she could think of was that this had something to do with Tess somehow, "tell me, Ollie."

"You should sit down." His stomach twisted into a knot.

Chloe looked at him for a moment then took a deep breath and reluctantly pulled away from him and moved to the couch.

Oliver rubbed his hands over his face, turning away from her as he tried to gather his thoughts. His heart was already beating quickly against his chest. "Chloe..." He exhaled slowly. "When you were infected by Brainiac...do you remember a period of time when you started forgetting who we all were?" He stared at the wall ahead of him.

Her stomach dropped at the topic, but she sat up a little and nodded, "yes," she told him quietly, not really sure where he was going with this.

He was quiet for a moment. "Do you know how that got fixed?"

"The Legion helped Clark." She told him, frowning.

"Later, yes," he said quietly, shutting his eyes for a moment, and then turning to face her. "Before that. Before your wedding ever happened."

Chloe shook her head a little, "I don't know what you're talking about, I remember going to find Davis at the hospital at some point but--" she paused and shook her head again, "why is any of this important?"

"Chloe, when you were losing your memories, Clark took you to the Fortress," he said quietly, taking a step toward her. "He asked Jor-El to repair whatever damage Brainiac had done when you were infected, and he did." He paused. "At least that's what we thought at the time." He hesitated.

She frowned and shook her head, "he didn't," Chloe told him, not understanding, "which is why Davis, well, Doomsday came after me on my wedding."

"I know," he said, shaking his head. He looked down at the ground. "But Clark thought Jor-El had fixed everything. You had your memories back." He hesitated again. "At least, some of them."

Her eyes narrowed a little and she shook her head again, "I did have my memories back, I remember the wedding, I remember everything that happened before and I remember how the party ended," she told him, "where are you going with this?" Chloe asked, growing impatient and still not understanding how this had anything to do with Lex and if there was something she couldn't stand, it was not understanding things.

Oliver felt his stomach tighten. "Chloe, when Clark took you to the Fortress to have Jor-El undo Brainiac's infection, he also asked Jor-El to remove all your memories about his real identity."

At that, she stilled, blinking and staring up at him, "what?"

He swallowed hard, nodding slightly to affirm that she'd heard him right. "He said he did it to protect you because knowing who he was had put you in too much danger already."

Chloe's stomach turned at the information and she just stared at him, "did he erase your identity from my memory too?"

"I don't know," he admitted quietly. "But considering how tied my identity was with Clark's...I can only guess yes."

At that, her eyes narrowed, "and you let him?"

He flinched at that. "I didn't know anything about it until after he'd already done it, Chloe."

She took a deep breath and shook her head, looking down at the floor as she leaned her elbows on her knees and holding her hands together, "how did I get my memory back?"

"The Legion, I guess," he said quietly, looking away.

"So that part of the story was true," she said shortly, keeping her eyes on the floor as she tried to process what Oliver was telling her. Clark was trying to protect her, she knew him well enough to know as much, but it was the fact that he never even told her the truth about this, or apologized to her for doing this in the first her, for _stealing_ her memories from her without even asking how she felt about it and if she wanted it to happen, _that_ made her angry.

Oliver closed his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, Chloe. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

She was silent for a moment longer then shook her head and stood up, "no," she said firmly and lifted her head, looking up at him, "I'm glad _someone_ told me."

He opened his eyes to look at her. "I think I was the only person who knew besides Clark," he said quietly.

"He had _no right_ to do this," she said, looking at him, "what was his reasoning? Why did he think I would ever _want_ something like that?"

"It wasn't about what you wanted, Chloe. It was Clark doing what he thought was for the best. And we both know how he is when he thinks that way."

Chloe took a deep breath shaking her head and rubbing her hands over her face, her jaw tight, she wanted to blow up, she wanted to rant and to yell, but she wouldn't because Oliver wasn't the man she wanted to demand an explanation from.

Her silence made his chest tighten. "Chloe. Look at me."

When she dropped her hands and turned to look at him, her jaw was tight, her eyes glassy with tears, not because she was hurt, but because she was angry and she was doing her best to control herself.

"Get angry," he whispered. "Yell. Just...do something."

Swallowing hard, she shook her head and took a deep breath, "you're not the one I want to yell at."

"That's okay. I won't take it personally." He shook his head.

Pursing her lips together she just shook her head and looked away from him again.

"Come on." He stepped closer to her.

Chloe just shook her head and sighed deeply, "no, one day, he will show up again and I will have my answers."

His jaw tightened a little and he looked away. No doubt she was right. Clark had a way of showing back up at random and ruining things.

She was silent for a long moment, hands curled into fists and then slowly, she opened them again and took a deep breath, managing to get her anger under control and at the same time realization hit her, "you're telling me this because you think if we change Lex's memory, we will be doing what Clark did to me."

Oliver looked down. "It just...feels wrong, Chloe," he said quietly.

Closing her eyes, she sighed again and rubbed her face, she did feel like a hypocrite now, she had gotten so angry finding out that someone had tried and thankfully had failed to alter her memory, how could she do it to someone else? Even if that person _was_ Lex Luthor and wouldn't think twice before doing it to any of them. She walked over to the couch and sat down heavily, resting her elbows in her knees again and her face in her hands.

He moved over to her side, and hesitantly rested a hand on her back. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he whispered.

Chloe sighed but didn't lift her head, "it wasn't your responsibility to tell me."

He shifted closer to her. "Maybe not. But I still should have."

"Don't blame yourself," she said firmly, finally lifting her head and turning it to look at him.

"I don't. I just..." He let out a breath, gazing at her. He shook his head and gently tucked some hair behind her ear. "I'm still sorry."

She nodded a little and looked at him for a moment then leaned slightly into his touch.

Oliver wound his arm around her, pulling her closer to him and kissing her temple.

Chloe leaned in and looked at him for a moment, the overwhelming anger that she felt earlier and was now pushing away as best as she could was messing up her emotions still, and without giving it a second thought, she shifted and moved until she was sitting on his lap. She wasn't sure why, maybe it was because he was willing to tell her the truth even though it had been such a long time, maybe it was because she _knew_ he wouldn't lie to her like Clark had so many times before, for her 'protection,' maybe it was because she was starting to realize that _he_ would never hurt her like Clark had before. Whatever the reason was, she just felt like being close to him and she was grateful that Clark's idea hadn't worked because she had no idea what her life would be now if she _didn't_ have Ollie and the team.

He was a little startled when she settled on his lap, but he gazed at her worriedly, searching her eyes. "Are you all right?" he whispered.

Pursing her lips together to stop herself from getting too emotional, she nodded, "yeah," she shifted a little and held his gaze, "just... trying to process everything."

Oliver lifted a hand to her cheek, brushing his thumb over it gently.

She shifted, wrapping her arms around his neck and moving closer to him, hugging him, "I'm just-- I'm glad I remembered."

His eyebrows furrowed a little and he hugged her back. "Me too."

Chloe nodded slightly and closed her eyes, sighing deeply and just holding on to him, she knew she was confusing him, she could hear it in his voice, but she just needed a moment longer and then she would go back to... normal. Whatever that was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Watchtower, Metropolis -- January 22, 2011**

Another day and they still hadn't decided on what to do about Lex. When Chloe spoke with J'onn that night, she hadn't mentioned the memory altering possibility at all and no one had brought it up since. They had had a couple of other meetings, but for now, the only plan was AC's, taking Lex to a remote location with no ways of communication and leaving him there until they could come up with a different plan.

And that wasn't good enough, but it was all they had.

Just like the plan to keep Oliver safe wasn't good enough for her, it was as good as it was going to get for the time being.

"I can't find anything on the Mansion feeds, if he was there, we would have seen him by now," Chloe told Oliver, sighing in frustration as she stared at the screens in front of her. She had hacked the Luthor mansion security cameras and had been trying to at least make sure they could keep an eye on Lex, but she had been watching the footage as long as she could keep her eyes open and nothing. No sign of him.

"If he's at the mansion, how the hell is he managing to stay off the camera?" Oliver muttered, shaking his head. Then he rested his hands on her shoulders, moving them gently to massage the tension from them.

"I don't know, it makes no sense," she told him, sighing and closing her eyes at the feel of his hands on her shoulders, "he must have left."

"Yeah, probably," he agreed with a frown, guiding her to the seat a few feet away.

Chloe let him walk her away from the computer and sat down, "I thought you were sleeping," she told him quietly.

"I woke up alone and missed you," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. It was the first time they'd spent the whole night together since they'd broken up months ago.

She lifted her head and looked up at him, smiling softly, "please, you finally had enough room to be comfortable on the couch."

"I was perfectly comfortable long before then," he told her with a smile as he met her eyes.

She held his gaze and smirked a little, lifting a hand to cover his, "sorry I woke you, then."

He smirked back at her, his eyes brightening. "You could always make it up to me."

Chloe paused at that and laid her head against the back of the chair she was sitting on, holding his gaze and licking her lips slowly, " _how_ could I possibly do that?"

He groaned involuntarily. "You like to torture me don't you?" he grumbled.

"Torture?" She turned the chair around so she was facing him and placed her hands on his hips, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Oliver cocked an eyebrow at her, swallowing hard. "Uh huh," he responded, covering her hands with his.

She held his gaze and leaned forward, rubbing her nose against his bare stomach. Oliver didn't like wearing shirts when he didn't have to, something she didn't have a problem with, but he hated wearing them to bed, which worked for her too.

He inhaled sharply. "Chloe."

"Mmhmm?" She murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the skin just above his boxers.

He shut his eyes, raising one of his hands to tangle in her hair. "What are you doing?" he murmured.

"Making up to you," she murmured against his skin, placing her lips on the spot she'd just kissed and sucking on the skin.

Oliver shuddered involuntarily, his grip tightening slightly on her hair. "I was...kidding about that. You don't owe me anything."

"Maybe I want to," she said quietly, running her tongue over his stomach then pulling back, "unless you don't _want_ me to."

"Don't stop," he answered, opening his eyes to look down at her.

Chloe held his gaze and smirked slowly, "only if you keep looking at me."

"Like looking at you is difficult." He smirked back at her.

"Keeping your eyes open might be," she told him quietly, shifting on her seat and hooking her fingers on the sides of his boxers.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, gritting his teeth a little.

And at that moment, Chloe's cell phone began to ring.

She stilled, then groaned, pulling her hands away from his boxers, "it's five in the morning, c'mon."

Oliver groaned, as well, but reluctantly stepped away from her, sighing. "Could be important."

Chloe stood up and picked up her phone from the desk, rolling her eyes when she saw the caller ID, "you better be hurt," she told her cousin as she picked up. Looked like she would have to have yet another talk about timezones with Lois.

"...why would you wish that on me?" Lois asked with a frown.

Sighing deeply, Chloe rubbed a hand over her face, "because you are calling me at five in the morning, Lois, _again_." And because they kept getting interrupted every time things were getting interesting. The day before, when the others connected for the meeting, later that evening when J'onn finally answered Chloe's message from earlier and now.

Oliver sighed softly and moved over to the couch, reaching down and picking up his shirt from where he had left the previous night and tugging it on reluctantly.

"It's five there? Really? Are you sure it's not later? Like seven? I know I waited longer this time," she insisted.

"No, Lois," she told her cousin, glancing over at Oliver and sighing, "I'm looking at the clock and it's five fifteen. And by the way? _Seven_ isn't any better."

"Yeah well, it's noon here and I'm on my lunch hour. And don't pretend like you're not thrilled to hear from me, because I know you are," Lois said cheerfully.

" _Thrilled_ ," Chloe grumbled, "did you call me just to _chat_?" Of course Chloe was incredibly relieved that Lois was okay, but she still wanted to kill her a little for her calling habits lately even if she had been awake.

"Actually, I called because I was hoping the next time you were in Kansas you could swing by the Talon and ship me the rest of my clothes," she said hopefully. "I didn't think I'd need them all here, but..." She sighed. "I'll pay you back."

" _All_ of it?" Chloe frowned, "somehow, I don't think you will need your stormtrooper costume, Lo."

"No, not that. There's just a couple of...dresses in the back of my closet that I might need."

"Dresses?" She asked, a little more intrigued.

Oliver sighed softly, then pointed toward the stairs to indicate he was going upstairs to take a shower. Preferably a cold one. 

"I may have... met someone," Lois admitted.

Chloe pursed her lips together and nodded at him, mouthing 'sorry' then walking over to the couch, "okay, tell."

She sighed. "His name's Richard. He's been asking me out since I got here," she admitted.

"Richard?" Chloe echoed, raising her eyebrows as she sat down, she was glad that her cousin was willing to try and move on, Lois had always been better at that than she was.

"White," Lois supplied after a moment. "He's...Perry's nephew."

"Perry White's _nephew_? What is he doing there?" Chloe asked, raising her eyebrows and looking up when she heard Oliver starting the shower and had to force herself not to hang up on her cousin and go join him.

"He's been here working with me and Perry," she admitted.

"And you just _forgot_ to mention him before?" She teased lightly.

"More like I've been trying to ignore him and hoping he'd just go away."

"And yet here you are, asking me to ship you clothes especially for whatever occasion that involves him," Chloe said, standing up from the couch and moving to stand in front of the computer tower, quickly googling 'Richard White,' "and he's cute, too."

"Ugh, don't remind me." She sighed heavily. "I'm not sure I'm ready to do this yet."

Chloe pursed her lips together and nodded a little, "is he nice?"

"They're all nice until they get what they want," Lois responded.

"Then don't give it to him," Chloe said, raising her eyebrows, easier said than done, of course, "just take it slow."

"Chloe, do you know how long it's been since I've had sex?" she complained.

Chloe winced and made a face, "a long time, I know," and secretly, she was glad things had not gone any further with Clark, even though he said he was in control... "do what you feel like doing, Lo, I mean, we all have needs."

She sighed heavily. "I know. I know. Speaking of, are yours being taken care of these days?"

"We're talking about _your_ sex life, not mine." She said quickly, "don't change the subject."

Lois sat forward in her chair. "Aha! They are! So you and Ollie finally got things worked out, huh?" She grinned brightly. "I knew it was only a matter of time. And locking you two up in a basement."

"You _knew_ about that?" Chloe gasped, not even bothering to keep up the half truths, "Lois! Why did you let them do it?"

"Because it needed to be done," she responded cheerfully. "And aren't you glad we did?"

"I'm not complaining..." she paused, then frowned, "but there were other ways to go about it."

"You're right. We could have locked you two in a closet." Lois smirked.

Chloe raised her eyebrows and smirked, too, "right, well since we're not talking about _your_ sex life and you're so interested in mine, I can just let you know that Ollie is in the shower and I have to go join him."

"Hell, Cuz, why didn't you say something before? Go get laid for the both of us." She sighed. "Call me soon."

"Seriously?" Chloe groaned, "how can that not disturb you?" She shook her head, "anyway, I'm in Metropolis, I'll drive to Smallville later and pick up your stuff and have Bart deliver it to you."

"You're the best." She grinned. "Have fun! Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Which by the way, isn't a lot."

"I don't think that would be possible," Chloe teased with a shake of her head, "just buy him a pizza or something when he gets there and he should be happy enough." It was nice to be able to say things like that to her cousin without having to lie about any of it.

Lois grinned. "Will do. Talk to you soon. Love you!"

"Love you too," Chloe told her before hanging up and taking a deep breath.

Lois hung up too, then chuckled softly. At least Chloe and Oliver were working things out.

Chloe set the phone down and then looked upstairs, considering for a moment then shaking her head. She made her way to the top of the stairs, the water was still running and she hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door and opening it slightly.  
Oliver didn't hear the knock, his head currently under the tepid water, washing the sleep from his face.

When he didn't answer, she pushed the door open a little more and poked her head inside, "Ollie?" She called.

He lifted his head. "You all right?"

She hesitated for a moment then nodded, "yeah, I have to drive to Smallville to grab some things for Lois."

He rubbed a hand over his face. "All right," he answered, closing his eyes for a moment.

"You okay?" She asked, pursing her lips together.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he told her, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Okay," she told him quietly, "I'll see you in a couple of hours, then."

"Drive safe," Oliver answered.

"I will," she told him, looking in the direction of the shower curtains and silently letting out a breath, "bye," she told him before pulling back from the bathroom, she had been expecting him to invite her to join him and even though logically she knew _he_ didn't know that, she couldn't help but feel disappointed that he hadn't and she knew it was just her stupid insecurities acting up, but she couldn't help it. At least she should be able to shake this off during the drive.

"Hey, Chloe?" He poked his head out of the shower, his hair dripping.

Chloe paused, holding her breath and on to the door knob, "yeah?"

"You know, if you're not in a hurry to get to Smallville, you could always join me." He flashed her a grin and ducked back into the shower.

She raised her eyebrows and stilled, staring at the curtains again, her heart had skipped a beat then picked up again, a lot faster. If she didn't know any better, she would accuse him of reading her mind, "I... guess it would be safer to drive there when the sun is already up."

He grinned at her response, and reached down, turning the water hotter. "Safety is incredibly important," he agreed.

Chloe paused then started to undress, "especially with the lives we lead," she took a deep breath and pushed the curtain open once she had undressed, she knew it was stupid to feel self-conscious about him seeing her, he had seen her naked plenty of times before, but there was just a little part of her that always did in situations like this.

Oliver reached out and picked her up, setting her down in the shower right in front of him. "Tell me you left your phone downstairs." He raised his eyebrows.

She raised her eyebrows back and smiled slowly, placing her hands on his arms and rubbing her way up up to his shoulders, " _and_ I locked the door..."

He grinned at that, and dipped his head down to kiss her, a slow, sensual kiss as he tugged her closer to him until they were skin-to-skin.

Chloe shivered and grinned, kissing him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body flush against his. _This_ was definitely a much better way to start the day.

* * *

**Watchtower, Metropolis -- January 22, 2011**

The drive to Smallville and back wasn't bad, Chloe had called Lois from their old apartment and had asked her what clothes exactly she wanted and then, during the drive back, she called Bart and had made arrangements for him to come by later and pick things up then take the suitcase Chloe had packed to Lois.

When Chloe got back to the Watchtower, she was starting to feel tired, she had woken up around 4:30 the previous night for no reason other than the fact that she and Oliver had ended up falling asleep early, or, more accurately, she had fallen asleep on him.

"Ollie?" She called, looking around the empty Watchtower as she dragged the suitcase inside, of course Lois had only left the ones without wheels behind. Chloe dropped it in the middle of the room and took a deep breath, then looked around again, "Oliver?" She called once more, her chest immediately tightening when he didn't respond.

Frowning, she was about to go upstairs when she noticed something on her desk, a note. She quickly walked over to it and picked it up, her stomach tightening when she read it.

_Don't worry, just ran to the clocktower to grab some work-stuff while we're in town. Be back shortly._

_Ollie._

"Goddammit, Oliver," she picked up her phone and was about to press his number on speed dial when all the screens in the Watchtower turned black and started flashing bold, red words at her.

" _Clocktower compromised_." The computers said, over and over again.

"No." Chloe said, her heart beating fast and just as she pulled the phone to her ear, waiting for him to pick up, her eyes fell on one of the Watchtower windows and her stomach dropped.

All she could see was black smoke coming from the direction she knew the clocktower was.


End file.
